


The Bad Omen

by GachMoBrea



Series: Fostering Strength [8]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, AcePlanner!Len, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe: Foster Family, Bank Robbers, Banks - Freeform, Barry gets smacked - Twice, BigBrother!Len, Bombs, Brother!Barry, Coming back after a break makes it harder to write., Completely Made Up!, Eddie gets his Key Back!, Father!Joe, Foster Family, Gen, Len & Lisa Hug, Len will always be awesome., NO Canon Placement, OOC, Plans, Protective!Barry, Rediculous Tags..., Siblings..., Sister!Iris, Sister!Lisa, The Key, Worried!Barry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-23 08:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8320342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GachMoBrea/pseuds/GachMoBrea
Summary: What happens when a slip of the tongue causes a catastrophe?Enter, the Bank Robbers![The Summary is misleading and terrible. I just can't think of anything proper to say. I'm sorry!]





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ignore Canon Time Lines. They don't exist. This happens after the previous stories.
> 
> (It's been a while since I've written in this world. It took be six tries to get this to something I didn't utterly hate. Sorry if it reads odd, off, or strangely...Or if the characters seem more OOC than usual...)

During a family dinner, Lisa starts complaining about her job.  
"Don't people realize they have to HAVE money in order to take it out of the bank?" she whines as she stabs at a roll with her fork.  
"Unless they're criminals," Len points out, taking a drink.  
"Yes, thank you for stating the obvious," his sister rolls her eyes.  
"Wait a minute," Iris raises her fork. "The Flash would stop them for sure. So the money would only be temporary."  
"They might not even make it out of the bank," Barry adds with a touch of pride. He once had stopped a robbery before it had fully progressed to one.  
"But if it's taken from the account or out of the drawer, it still counts as out," Joe remarks.  
"I'm just glad no one's tried to rob the branch that you work at yet," Barry smiles. Bivolo had been a close call. Lisa's bank was untouched by the Meta.  
"Oh, great! Thanks for that!" Lisa huffs angrily.  
"What?" Barry blinks.  
"Now we'll definitely get robbed," his foster sister growls, tossing her half eaten roll at the hero's head. "Gee, thanks Barry!"  
Len smacks his brother.  
"What?" the speedster repeats with a confused frown.  
"Bad omen," his brother says seriously. He raises an eyebrow to the other's still lost expression. "How many times do the movies have to say 'at least it can't get worse' then things get worse for you not notice you shouldn't tempt fate?"  
"Come on, Len," Joe laughs. "There's no way that what Barry said will cause Lisa's bank to get robbed."  
"Double whammy," Lisa groans as she shakes her head at her family. "I can't believe you all hate me so much. Is it because I'm the youngest? Is that it?"  
"I'll get a beat cop to stay nearby," Len assures his sister with a smile. "I'll also have my lunch break with you from now on."  
"Come on guys," Iris can't believe the seriousness of her foster siblings. "You're just playing with us, right? Is this some sort of scheme to get at us?"  
The siblings blink in time, faces completely serious. It sends a shiver of fear throughout the rest of the family.  
"Wow," Joe clears his throat. He knocks against the wooden table. "Let's just hope for the best then, okay?"

 

The very next day, Lisa's bank is held hostage by a team of robbers. They have bombs on their bodies with dead man switches. If The Flash tries to interfere, they'll let go and the place will go boom.

Len arrives on scene with Joe and Eddie. Completely ignoring the officer in charge, Len grabs hold of the megaphone and steps in front of the police car line up.  
"Yo, morons!" he shouts even with the megaphone enhancing his voice. "You better keep a tight grip on those switches! I'm coming in!"  
"Len, don't you dare!" Joe scrambles to grab hold of his kid when he starts to walk forwards. The Flash does it for him, dropping the trainee off behind the police line.  
"What do you think you're doing?" Len scowls as he shoves the megaphone into the hero's chest. "I've got to get in there and get Lisa out!"  
"You won't be any help to her if you get yourself killed!" Barry counters, shoving the megaphone back. "What are you going to do with a room full of bomb covered robbers?"  
"I'm going to-!" Len stops himself from finishing when he notices they have an audience. All of the officers are staring at them with large eyes, occasionally glancing at each other, looking for someone to make the first move.  
"I, uh, I'll get the building plans," Eddie offers up after the silence stretches for too long.  
"No, I'll do it," Barry says. He smiles at the detective. "I'm faster."  
In a flash, the hero has the plans in a plastic tube.  
"They better not get set on fire," Len grumbles as he trades the megaphone for the plans. He opens the container and spreads the papers out over a patrol car's hood.  
Joe steps up beside his son to try and figure out his plan. He ends up asking him, "What are you thinking?"  
"I used to case places like this for fun," Len remarks as he traces some of the outlines with his finger. "Every fortress has a weak point. I just need to..." His finger stops and he smirks. "Find it."  
"What? What is it?" Joe moves to look at where his kid is pointing.  
"This building was a church before it was a bank," Len tells him. Eddie and Barry step closer to take either side of the pair. "The church used to smuggle people, mostly illegal immigrants, out hidden tunnels that ran throughout the city. Now, most of the tunnels are either blocked off or too damaged to use, but this one," he points to a marking on the plans. "Is surrounded by the building's stone supports, so it will be usable. The Flash will get into it through the back," he points up to the thin alleyway the leads to the area stated. "There's a small mausoleum for the church's first leader, Father Heartwell. It's padlocked but you can break it easily. The actual grave part is false. Take a flashlight-" Len moves out of the group to snatch one off an officer and hands it to the speedster. "You might need an ax or shovel once you get closer. It's a straight shot to the baptismal area of the church. Just take it to the end and don't drop the stone piece when you push it out."  
"How do you know all this?" Eddie says in awe as he watches the man wrap up the plans to put them back into the plastic container.  
Len smirks, "Like I wouldn't know every square inch of the place my family works at. By the way," he pokes the detective in the chest. "That apartment building of yours hasn't been inspected in twenty years. Might want to get on the landlord's case about that."  
"Getting into the bank secretly is great," Joe steps in with a frown. "But how does that stop the robbers from activating their bombs?"  
"The plan isn't to get IN to the bank," Len corrects the detective. "It's to get the bad guys OUT."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Trust me," the trainee says as he hands the tube over. "I've got a plan."  
"What are you coppers doing out there?" one of the robbers shouts. "Where's the big mouthed one? I thought he had something to say to us!"  
"That's my cue," Len hands his cell over to his foster father. "They'll just smash it once I'm in anyway. I just got used to all the new apps."  
"You're not going in there," Joe says firmly. "Giving yourself over to them isn't going to help anything. I still don't understand this plan of yours."  
"I think I do," Barry speaks up before his brother can explain. "I open up the secret exit. Len leads the robbers out that way, making them think they'll escape. Once they're away from the hostages, they won't have any leverage. They'll be forced to surrender."  
"And what's to stop them from killing themselves and Len?" Joe points out, voice straining for his kids to see reason. "This 'plan' has flaws. I don't like it."  
"You don't have to like it for it to work," Len winks at his foster father. He takes the megaphone back from Barry and points it to the building. "I'm coming, you cowards! Better not get nervous now! Just keep you clammy hands on those switches!"  
"I might understand your plan," Barry frowns. "but I don't get why you're purposely trying to tick them off."  
"More focus on me, less on the hostages," his brother says as he puts the megaphone down on the hood of the patrol car. He pats both members of his family on the shoulder, "Let's go get my sister back, shall we?"

Len walks to the glass doors lined with hostages. He scans the building over quickly, stopping to stare at his sister for a few extra seconds before locking eyes with one of the robbers.  
"Let me in," the trainee orders the man. He knocks at the door. "I have an offer for you."  
The man jerks his head to one of his comrades who lets him in.  
Joe curses violently in his head as his second child is held hostage with a bunch of bomb toting crazies.

"So," one of the bombers says as Len is checked over, one handed, by another member of the group. "What makes you think you're so special you can talk to us like that?"  
"About twenty some odd ribbons they pinned to my chest," Len smirks. He looks over the room before locking eyes with his captor again. "You know how this works. You just gained a hostage, so you have to let one go."  
"No I don't," the man argues. "You're already here. Why do I have to let anyone go?"  
"Because if you don't, you'll all just end up dying uselessly," the trainee points out. "Did you want to get away with this little show of yours? Or did you really come here to die?"  
Two members of the bomb team turn to their leader. Len patiently waits for the guy to decide and smirks when he says, "Fine. We'll let one go."  
"Her," Len points to Lisa. "Let her go and you all go home rich men who are very much alive."  
"Whatever," the talking bomber motions with his free hand for Lisa to be moved. The brunette gets up slowly, eyes trained on her brother. He nods to her minutely, but it's enough for her to know he has everything in hand. She lets herself be dragged to the front and runs from the building once released.

"Lisa!" Joe wraps his arms around his girl. "Are you okay? What's going on in there?"  
"Len is being Len," Lisa shakes a little as adrenaline leaves her body. She stares into the detective's eyes. "Did he tell you his plan before he went in there like a dummy?"  
The detective sighs, "No, not really. The Flash seems to know what's going on though."  
Lisa looks back to the building with a concerned frown, "I wish my brother was a little more transparent with things."

"Okay," the bomb leader grabs hold of Len's jacket. "We let the girl go, so talk!"  
"No need to get physical," Len drawls, eyes darting down to the bomb instead of up at the bomber. "Do you have what you came for?"  
"That's none of your business."  
"Fair enough. I just didn't want you walking out of here without a pay day."  
"You're a strange copper," the bomber pushes Len away. "I've never heard anyone negotiate like you before."  
"I'm a special brand of negotiator," Len straightens his coat, eyes secretly roaming to where the other bombers were. After a quick sweep, he addresses the bomber again, "There's a secret passage that leads out of here. The boys outside don't know it even exists. We block the doors so they can't see we're leaving. I'll lead the way, you keep a hostage, everyone goes home happy," he shrugs. "Except me."  
"If you're playing me, cop," the bomber gets in the trainee's face. "I'll blow you sky high."  
"Naturally," Len drawls.

"Sir," one of the officers points to the front doors of the bank. "The bombers are covering the glass doors. We're losing visual!"  
"Hold your positions," Joe orders the men firmly. He had officially taken over the situation at this point. He also brought the geniuses at STAR Labs into the situation, so he speed dials Cisco, "Do you know what's going on?"  
"There's interference from the tunnels," the genius tells him. "I'm trying to boost the signal now...Got it! Barry? What's going on, man?"  
"I can hear them coming now," the speedster answers over the comms and through the phone. "I'm going to run back so they can't see me. I'll be able to ambush them as they come out of the mausoleum."  
"Be careful," Joe adds as his heart beats harder. "We don't want this blowing up in our faces."  
"Literally," Cisco adds.  
"Not a good time, dude," Barry says, sounding a little off.  
"Right. Sorry."

Len watches the bombers carefully as they lock the hostages in one of the offices. He makes sure to keep an eye on the bombs and weapons so that the criminals don't try a trick and blow everyone up anyway.  
"Where is this secret passage?" the leader pushes the trainee's shoulder harshly, making him move forwards a few steps.  
"Right this way," Len steps confidently towards where the stone square is waiting. He doesn't rush his steps, though. Just in case Barry came across unforeseen difficulties clearing the way for them.  
"That's a wall, genius," the leader growls when his hostage stops. "You asking to die?"  
"Since the only method you brought for murder was a suicide bomb, I suggest you hold off threatening me with that," Len comments dryly as his fingers run over the edges. He finds a good place to grip and pulls. The slab comes loose and he lets it drop on the floor before pushing it completely out of the way.  
"Cool," another one of the bombers says. He sounds young to Len. Maybe late teens/early twenties.  
The leader nudges Len again, his head almost bashes against the marble with the force, but he manages to put a hand up to protect it.  
"You first, cop," the bomber says impatiently. "And remember, if this is a trick-"  
"I go boom," Len rolls his eyes as he takes a step inwards. "Then you go boom and your buddies go boom and everybody dies. I got it."  
It's pitch black in the pathway, but each of the bombers have a small flashlight to lead the way. Len walks forwards carefully with one hand in front in case he should run into something he doesn't see.

Barry waits impatiently for the bombers to come. He had replaced the top to the grave so that they wouldn't get suspicious. He's holding a large roll of electrical tape in one hand so that when the bad guys start to come out he can pick off their switches and tape them into being closed for good.  
He's sweating a lot under his suit as he quickly flashes to the mausoleum and back to his hiding spot again. What if he was too slow? What if he misses one? What if they killed Len in the tunnels with a rock or hidden weapon? He should have NEVER agreed to this. He should have come up with a better plan. Was this really all his fault? Did he cause this?  
"Barry, your heart rate is through the roof!" Caitlin says worriedly, breaking into his spiraling thoughts. "You need to calm down so that you can focus. You'll give yourself a heart attack at this rate!"  
"Deep breaths, Barry," Cisco takes his own advice over the comms. "You've got this. Captain Cranky will be just fine."  
"Breathe, right," Barry tries to but his chest is too tight. It's hard to get his lungs to function properly. "What's taking them so long?!"  
"Being a speedster is most likely affecting your outlook on time," Caitlin remarks.  
"Geeze, dude! You'd be awful in a car during rush hour."  
"Why do they call it 'rush hour' when nobody moves?"  
"It's one of those nuances of human phraseology that doesn't make sense."  
Barry speed checks the grave again and he catches the thing moving. He runs back to his hiding spot. "They're coming!"  
"Breathe, Barry," his friends remind him. "You've got this."

Len pushes against the top of the grave and feels a small jolt of electricity run through his fingers and up his arm. He pulls his hands back to 'adjust his grip' and pushes again, this time without the jolt.  
The stone slab slides half way off the grave and Len leaves it there to climb out. The leader's hand snatches his wrist before he can even straighten all the way and he holds tight to it as he pulls himself out.  
"As I live and breathe," the man laughs as he looks the deserted area over. "No coppers out back? What naïve fools!"  
"There's no vehicular entrance from here," Len remarks, twisting his wrist slightly to check his range of motion. The man's grip is too tight to just pull out from. "There's a van about two blocks down that can be easily hotwired. IF you can get to it quickly enough."  
The other group members were exiting as the two talked, the last of them just lifting his head out of the darkness.  
"If WE can get to them," the leader corrects with a sneer. "I'm not letting you go until we're far from this place."  
Red lighting wraps around the man, then his cohorts in fast succession. The last man still half in the fake grave topples over and lands on the ground with a thud.  
"The triggers!" another of the men shouts when he realizes his hand is empty. "They're gone! Where did they go?"  
"You won't be needing them anymore," The Flash appears in front of them. He points to the man holding Len, "Let him go and turn yourselves in!"  
"Flash," the leader growls, his grip tightening on his prisoner's wrist. "How-?" He shakes his head with a chuckle. "This was a trap all along? I never thought a punk like you could come up with-"  
Barry gets too impatient and rushes the man, slamming a fist into his opponents elbow while simultaneously twisting his wrist near his palm. The man lets go of Len and the speedster gets his brother away from his captor seconds later.  
Len takes a step to gain his balance, his wrist burning slightly as it regains blood flow.  
"That's a rush," he comments as he smirks at the hero.  
"Why you!" the bomb leader lifts a gun to shoot at the pair, but is shot in the leg, bringing him to the ground with a pained shout. Barry runs to grab up the weapon while Len turns to their savior.  
Eddie steps forward, gun still trained on the unfriendlies as he moves to stand next to the trainee.  
"You okay, Len?" the blonde asks, only glancing twice to the other man as the speedster checks the others for weapons.  
"Yeah," Len smiles at him. "Did you just shoot a guy for me?"  
"Don't get too emotional about it," the detective smirks. "I did it so you can tell me where you're hiding my key."  
"It's under your potted plant in your living room," Len tells him, enjoying the startled look he gets for it. "What? I had a key. Seemed a waste to not use it."

"Everything okay back here?" Joe arrives with backup. The Flash, having removed the vests, brings them to the detective.  
"Where do you want these, detective?" the hero asks as he tries to hide a satisfied smile.  
"We'll leave them here for bomb disposal," the detective answers back seriously. "Thanks for all of your help."  
"Sure thing!" Barry zips the vests to a corner of the back, away from everyone, then runs off in a bolt of lightning.  
The bombers are read their rights and put under arrest. 

While the officers escort the criminals away, Lisa comes running to her brother to wrap her arms around his neck in a hug.  
"You idiot!" Lisa smacks her brother in the chest as she pulls away. "I don't care how smart you think you are, purposely striding into a room with guys that have BOMBS on their chests is incredibly imbecilic!"  
"Not sure if it's as bad as the time you-"  
"No!" Lisa cuts her brother off with another hit to the chest. "You do NOT get to make this about me, Lenny! YOU'RE the idiot who nearly died! I can't believe I'm related to a buffoon!"  
"Is she always like this?" Eddie mumbles to his partner. Joe shakes his head instead of answering. He's trying to hold in his own scolding rant; there will be time for it later.  
"How can this not be about you, when you're the one who was being held hostage?" Len asks calmly. He catches his sister's fist when she moves to hit him again. "Lisa."  
Tears trickle down the brunette's eyes as she tries to continue scowling at her brother.  
"I'm fine," Len tells her softly, pulling her back in for a proper hug. "We're both fine." He can't help but add, "I'll even let you hang out with Sicko tonight without any haggling."  
Lisa sob-laughs as she wipes at her eyes, "Now I know you were scared. Or maybe you're not my brother after all?"  
"You've got me," Len grins. "I'm secretly a space pirate. It's nice to meet you."  
As Lisa laughs, Joe can't help but smile at his kids. 

 

That night at dinner, Iris is given the full story. Once the teller finish, the reporter promptly smacks both her brothers on the back of the head.  
"Why is everyone hitting me?" Barry frowns as he rubs the spot. It's already healed but the shame of it stull burns. Len just takes it silently.  
"You're both a couple of idiots," Iris scolds them.  
"Here! Here!" Lisa cheers.  
"You let the lieutenant run head long into danger!" Iris points to Barry. "And YOU," she points to Len, "You ran head long into danger! Didn't the Air Force teach you anything?"  
"I think we should discuss the ranking system," Len deflects. "I have an actual rank now."  
"Major Pain?" Lisa supplies unhelpfully.  
"You got something to say, Lieutenant Light-Head?" her brother counters.  
"That all you've got, Major Moron?" Lisa smiles with teeth.  
"No, Private Prissy."  
"Woah! Why the demotion?"  
"You weren't given a rank when I was around."  
"That's because you up and left for boot camp!"  
"I thought that was a good thing?"  
"Stop avoiding the subject!"  
"Do you even remember what that is?"  
"Alright!" Joe snaps at his adult children who are acting like their smaller selves. They all stare at him with wide eyes. "It's been a long and stressful day. I think we should call it a night."  
"Yes," Lisa nods, then grins at her brother. "I'll have seven whole hours to come up with reasons why my beloved brother is an idiot."  
"I think I'll call in sick," Len drawls, getting up to leave for bed. He turns to his family. "I'm glad everyone is safe."  
They can't help but feel the same way.

\---

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing...


End file.
